We analyzed the effect of income inequality on Germans’ life satisfaction considering factors explaining the mechanism of this relationship. Based on data from the German Socio-Economic Panel Study for the years 1984 to 2012, we found a negative relationship between national-level income disparity and average life satisfaction, meaning that people felt happier in years with lower inequality. The effect ...
The number of unemployed workers in Germany decreased dramatically from its peak in February 2005 at over 5.2 million to 3.6 million by 2008. At the same time, employment increased by 1.2 million. Most theoretical and empirical analyses of this episode assume that a worker leaving unemployment moves into full employment. We ask where the unemployed actually went. Using and merging two large micro data ...
Die Finanzierung der Gesetzlichen Krankenversicherung (GKV) war im vergangenen Jahr 2010 ein zentrales Thema der politischen Debatte. Den Vorstellungen der Bundesregierung, die letztlich im November durch das GKV-Finanzierungsgesetz umgesetzt wurden, wurden in der Auseinandersetzung Modelle zur Weiterentwicklung der bestehenden Beitragsfinanzierung entgegengestellt. Das Diskussionspapier behandelt ...